@MrPea Building on the correct answer above, the XPS 13 is designed for a 45W power source. Just the CPUs in the XPS 15 are rated for 45W draw. The GPUs are designed for another 45W as well, and then you have the SSD, WiFi, display, power to USB peripherals, etc. That’s why the XPS 15 is designed for a 130W power source when equipped with a discrete GPU. And then there’s the issue of cooling. If Dell tried to cram a dedicated GPU into that system, they’d likely have to make that system so thick that they’d alienate their core market. Even the XPS 15 can throttle performance due to higher temperatures under sustained loads.
Dell a while ago made an Alienware 13 model that as the name suggests had a 13” display, but it was also quite chunky to allow for a proper cooling system. It wouldn’t really qualify as an ultraportable. Apart from that, your best option would be an external GPU in a Thunderbolt eGPU enclosure, although the low power CPU in the XPS 13 would somewhat bottleneck that, so don’t go too high-end on the GPU if you go that route.
ejn63
10 Elder
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30.7K Posts
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December 30th, 2021 04:00
Any dedicated GPU will draw too much power for a thin/lightweight chassis so -- it's unlikely.
jphughan
9 Legend
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14K Posts
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December 30th, 2021 16:00
@MrPea Building on the correct answer above, the XPS 13 is designed for a 45W power source. Just the CPUs in the XPS 15 are rated for 45W draw. The GPUs are designed for another 45W as well, and then you have the SSD, WiFi, display, power to USB peripherals, etc. That’s why the XPS 15 is designed for a 130W power source when equipped with a discrete GPU. And then there’s the issue of cooling. If Dell tried to cram a dedicated GPU into that system, they’d likely have to make that system so thick that they’d alienate their core market. Even the XPS 15 can throttle performance due to higher temperatures under sustained loads.
Dell a while ago made an Alienware 13 model that as the name suggests had a 13” display, but it was also quite chunky to allow for a proper cooling system. It wouldn’t really qualify as an ultraportable. Apart from that, your best option would be an external GPU in a Thunderbolt eGPU enclosure, although the low power CPU in the XPS 13 would somewhat bottleneck that, so don’t go too high-end on the GPU if you go that route.